Female criminal violence and differential MMPI characteristics.

Used a cross-validational approach to compare MMPI scale elevations and profile patterns produced by 22 female murderers and 40 female nonviolent offenders in 2 geographic regions. Ss did not differ between groups in race distribution, age, education, age at or months served on current offense, total time incarcerated, or intellectual level. Ss also completed the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale for Measuring Intellectual Impairment and the Raven Progressive Matrices. Murderers from both prison sources produced subdued group mean profiles, whereas nonviolent offenders were characterized by elevations on Scale 4. Discriminant function classification was highly dependent on scores on Scales 4, 5, K, and A and correctly identified 82% of violent and 78% of nonviolent offenders. A principal-components analysis yielded 5 components of profile types, but only the component defined by high positive loadings for Scale 4 differentiated between the groups. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying violent offenders using a video measure of interpersonal distance.

73 imprisoned male offenders volunteered to complete a videotaped measure of preferred interpersonal distance (IPD). Prison records were then searched for information leading to the classification of each S as either violent or nonviolent and for data on 17 background variables. A discriminant function analysis (DFA) identified 7 of the variables beginning with current offense and including IPD, as discriminators between violent and nonviolent offenders. Inspection of discriminant scores revealed an optimal criterion score with which 92% of the Ss were correctly identified as either violent or nonviolent. A 2nd DFA, which omitted the variable current offense, showed that IPD was the next best discriminator between violent and nonviolent offenders, and a positive relationship between preferred IPD and violence was clearly demonstrated. Results also support studies that have shown no difference in the shapes of the body-buffer zones of violent and nonviolent offenders, but anticipated differences between the IPD scores of Polynesian and European ethnic groups were not found. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crime specialization, seriousness progression, and Markov chains.

Sequences of violent and nonviolent offenses by 300 male offenders (mean age 26.47 yrs) were subjected to log-linear analyses of the stabilities and magnitudes of their transition probabilities (TPs). Results show that all patterns resembled a Markov process wherein the TPs were stable. The relative magnitude of these TPs indicated that there was specialization in nonviolent offenses and little tendency toward consistently violent behavior. Seriousness progression from nonviolent to violent misconduct was infrequent; however, there was substantial retrogression from violent to nonviolent offenses. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The validity and reliability of the Violence Risk Scale: A treatment-friendly violence risk assessment tool.

The development of risk assessment tools that use dynamic variables to predict recidivism and to inform and facilitate violence reduction interventions is the next major challenge in the field of risk assessment and management. This study is the first in a 2-step process to validate the Violence Risk Scale (VRS), a risk assessment tool that integrates violence assessment, prediction, and treatment. Ratings of the 6 static and 20 dynamic VRS variables assess the client's level of risk. Ratings of the dynamic variables identify treatment targets linked to violence, and ratings of the stages of change of the treatment targets assess the client's treatment readiness and change. The VRS scores of 918 male offenders showed good interrater reliability and internal consistency and could predict violent and nonviolent recidivism over both short- and longer term (4.4-year) follow-up. The probability of violent and nonviolent recidivism varied linearly with VRS scores. Dynamic and static variables performed equally well. The results support the contention that the VRS can be used to assess violent risk and to guide violence reduction treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of violent versus nonviolent recidivism from prior violent and nonviolent criminality.

Analyzed frequencies of prior violent and nonviolent criminal convictions among 198 adult male felony offenders (mean age 27 yrs) in relation to probation outcome defined as success, nonviolent failure, or violent failure. The probation follow-up was conducted after 32 mo. Only the results for prior nonviolent offenses were significant, and although nonviolent failures on probation were nearly 4 times more common than were violent failures, the nonviolent predictor set was equally sensitive to the 2 types of recidivism. The association between prior nonviolent offenses and probation outcome was attenuated by the influence of age. Persistent nonviolent criminality usually reflects a generalized propensity for social deviance and is therefore of some predictive value with heterogeneous groups of offenders. In contrast, because violence is often due to transitory psychological states that emerge in response to atypical circumstances, it is a relatively poor indicator of the likelihood of future similar behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect, verbal content, and psychophysiology in the arguments of couples with a violent husband.

Studied the affect, psychophysiology, and verbal content of arguments in couples with a violent husband. On the basis of self-reports of violent arguments, there were no wife behaviors that successfully suppressed husband violence once it began; moreover, husband violence escalated in response to nonviolent as well as violent wife behaviors, whereas wife violence escalated only in reaction to husband violence or emotional abuse. Only wives were fearful during violent and nonviolent arguments. The observational coding of nonviolent arguments in the laboratory revealed that both battering husbands and their wives (DV) were angrier than their maritally distressed but nonviolent (DNV) counterparts. As predicted, on the more provocative anger codes, only DV men differed from their DNV counterparts. However, DV wives were as verbally aggressive toward their husbands as DV husbands were toward their wives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperature and aggression: Effects on quarterly, yearly, and city rates of violent and nonviolent crime.

The hypothesized relation between uncomfortably hot temperatures and aggressive behavior was examined in two studies of violent and nonviolent crime. Data on rates of murder, rape, assault, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft were gathered from archival sources. The first three crimes listed are violent; the latter four are less violent (labeled nonviolent). On the basis of previous research and theory (Anderson & Anderson, 1984), it was predicted that violent crimes would be more prevalent in the hotter quarters of the year and in hotter years. Furthermore, it was predicted that this temperature–crime relation would be stronger for violent than for nonviolent crime. Study 1 confirmed both predictions. Also, differences among cities in violent crime were predicted to be related to the hotness of cities; this effect was expected to be stronger for violent than for nonviolent crimes. Study 2 confirmed both predictions, even when effects of a variety of social, demographic, and economic variables were statistically removed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ovarian aging and hormone replacement therapy. Hormonal levels, symptoms, and attitudes of African-American and white women

The purpose of the study was to identify psychiatric symptoms, neurological impairments, and situational factors associated with the emergence of violence and with its persistence. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed in newly admitted physically assaultive psychiatric patients and nonviolent controls. Patients were than evaluated for 4 weeks to determine the persistence or resolution of these physical assaults. Patients who showed marked resolution of assaults were classified as transiently violent (n = 41), and those who remained assaultive throughout were categorized as persistently violent (n = 34). At the end of 4 weeks, all patients received a comprehensive psychiatric and neurological assessment. Physical assaults were associated initially with prominent positive psychotic symptoms. Both transiently and persistently violent patients were more psychotic than the nonviolent controls; however transiently violent patients showed better resolution of these symptoms over the 4 weeks. They also evidenced less frontal lobe impairment on the neurological examination than the persistently violent patients. The two violent groups differed in their susceptibility to environmental influences: the surrounding ward agitation fostered physical assaults in transiently but not in persistently violent patients. This differentiation between transiently and persistently violent patients has major implications for the comprehensive treatment of violent behavior.     

Demand and withdraw communication among couples experiencing husband violence.

Two studies compared marital communication behaviors of violent and nonviolent couples. In Study 1, violent distressed (VD) men reported more husband demand-wife withdraw than did nonviolent men. Distressed men reported less mutual constructive communication and more mutual blame and avoidance than did nondistressed men. Interactions of VD, violent nondistressed (VND), nonviolent distressed (NVD), and nonviolent nondistressed couples were coded in Study 2. VD spouses tended to engage in the most demand and withdraw and the least positive behavior; violent couples had the highest levels of contempt. On some codes, VND couples resembled NVD couples, suggesting that violence without distress may correlate differently with marital communication than violence in combination with distress and that severity of violence is important to consider. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the responses of maritally violent and nonviolent spouses to problematic marital and nonmarital situations: Are the skill deficits of physically aggressive husbands and wives global?

This study compared the competency of responses offered by spouses in violent and nonviolent marriages to problematic marital and nonmarital situations. Twenty-five maritally violent and distressed, 10 nonviolent but maritally distressed, and 23 nonviolent and nondistressed couples participated. Each spouse listened to narratives of marital and nonmarital (e.g., boss or friend) problematic situation vignettes. Participants were asked what they would say and do in each situation. A coding system designed with input from nonviolent, happily married individuals showed that violent spouses provided less competent responses than nonviolent spouses for both marital and nonmarital situations and for both 1st and 2nd responses. The findings suggest that violent-distressed spouses have particular difficulty with marital situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of violence as a function of levels of hostility.

Administered the Buss-Durkee Inventory of Hostility to 40 undergraduates, using the results to analyze Ss' responses to a series of violent and nonviolent scenes. It is concluded that the hypothesis that high-hostile Ss would be more perceptive of violence than low-hostile Ss was significantly supported (p     

Predicting violent behavior from WAIS characteristics: A replication failure.

Attempted to replicate the findings of M. W. Kunce et al (see record 1976-10022-001) on an index for predicting violent behavior derived from differential WAIS characteristics. The present study, with 16 violent and 10 nonviolent psychotic White males, found that, in contrast with the Kunce et al findings, violent Ss earned higher Similarities Ratio scores than did nonviolent Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–son relationships of juvenile felons.

67 mother–son dyads from father-absent families were divided into 3 groups: violent felon, nonviolent felon, and normal control. Adolescent sons had a mean age of 14.5 yrs, while mothers had a mean age of 39.3 yrs. During the assessment session, mothers and sons completed self-report inventories and engaged in an interaction task that was audio-recorded. Consistent with prior research, mother–son relationships in families with juvenile offenders were less warm and tended to evidence less positive communication and more negative communication than did those in families with nonoffenders. Marginally significant results suggest that the 16 violent juvenile felons had even poorer relationships with their mothers than did the 15 nonviolent felons. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and nonviolent criminal convictions: Age 3 to age 18.

This study examined the relations between family characteristics, childhood temperament, and convictions for violent and nonviolent offenses at age 18 in a representative birth cohort of men who are part of a longitudinal study. Three groups of men were identified on the basis of their conviction status at age 18: Participants who had never been convicted (n?=?404), participants who had been convicted for nonviolent offenses only (n?=?50), and participants who had been convicted for violent offenses (n?=?21). Multivariate analysis of variance and logistic regression analyses indicated that family factors were associated with both types of conviction outcomes, whereas childhood temperament was associated primarily with convictions for violent offenses. The potentially distinct roles of social- and self-regulation in the development of antisocial behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extraction of carboxylic acids as adducts with trioctylphosphine oxide

Simulated jurors were asked to render judgements in a case involving either a violent or a nonviolent armed robbery. The defendent either did or did not have a stated history or previous psychiatric hospitalization. The former mental patient received fewer guilty verdicts than did the nonhospitalized defendant in the nonviolent robbery condition, while no difference existed in the violent robbery condition. It was predicted that, relative to the nonhospitalized defendant, subjects would be more punitive when the former mental patient was judged guilty of the violent crime than when he was judged guilty of the nonviolent robbery. This prediction was confirmed only for male subjects. The data suggest that while males responded in terms of conventional stereotypes about the mentally ill, females did not. Results are discussed in terms of attribution of responsibility and fear reactions toward the mentally ill.     

Psychopathy in instrumental and reactive violent offenders.

Can violent offenders who commit acts of instrumental aggression for goal-oriented purposes such as robbery be distinguished from those who commit acts of reactive (or hostile) aggression in response to provocation? Because violent offenders often have a history of both instrumental and reactive aggression, this study distinguished between offenders with a history of at least 1 instrumental violent offense and offenders with a history of reactive violent offenses. Two studies tested the hypothesis that instrumental offenders would score higher than reactive offenders and nonviolent offenders on R. D. Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist. The first study sample consisted of 106 violent and nonviolent offenders recruited from a medium-security correctional facility. The second study sample consisted of 50 violent offenders referred for pretrial forensic evaluation. In both samples, instrumental offenders could be reliably distinguished from reactive offenders on the basis of violent crime behavior and level of psychopathy. Group differences could not be attributed to participant age, race, length of incarceration, or extent of prior criminal record. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demand–withdraw interaction in couples with a violent husband.

This study examined the relationship between demand–withdraw interaction and battering in couples with a violent husband. The authors compared the interaction patterns of 47 couples with a violent husband with the interaction patterns of 28 distressed but nonviolent couples and 16 happily married nonviolent couples. All couples engaged in videotaped discussions of problem areas in their marriage. Both batterers and battered women showed less positive communication and more negative communication than did their nonviolent counterparts. Additionally, batterers showed significantly higher levels of both demanding and withdrawing than did other men. Battered women demanded more change than did women in nonviolent marriages but were significantly less inclined to withdraw than were their husbands. The discussion of these findings focuses on the interactional dynamics between batterers and battered women and how these interactions might be understood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Television violence and children's aggression: Testing the priming, social script, and disinhibition predictions.

The effect of television violence on boys' aggression was investigated with consideration of teacher-rated characteristic aggressiveness, timing of frustration, and violence-related cues as moderators. Boys in Grades 2 and 3 (N?=?396) watched violent or nonviolent TV in groups of 6, and half the groups were later exposed to a cue associated with the violent TV program. They were frustrated either before or after TV viewing. Aggression was measured by naturalistic observation during a game of floor hockey. Groups containing more characteristically high-aggressive boys showed higher aggression following violent TV plus the cue than following violent TV alone, which in turn produced more aggression than did the nonviolent TV condition. There was evidence that both the violent content and the cue may have suppressed aggression among groups composed primarily of boys low in characteristic aggressiveness. Results were interpreted in terms of current information-processing theories of media effects on aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lactic acid in human aqueous humour

IQs of rapists were compared to IQs of nonrapist prisoners convicted of violent crimes and nonrapist prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes. Subjects were 136 male convicted felons in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. Determination of violent vs. nonviolent crimes other than rape was made upon consultation with a Kentucky Commonwealth Attorney. The results revealed significantly lower IQs for rapists compared to nonrapists convicted of violent crimes and compared to heterogeneous nonrapist convicts. The present research supports the findings of Karacan and co-workers, indicating a general tendency for rapists to have lower IQs than other convicted prisoners.